


Not one for regrets

by Princex_N



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Reflection, Spoilers for The Crystal Kingdom, Spoilers for The Eleventh Hour, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 16:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8540260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princex_N/pseuds/Princex_N
Summary: Merle considers the Chalice's offer.





	

"You can stop yourself from grabbing it. You can be  _whole_ again, Merle." 

It would be a lie to say that it doesn't sound appealing. 

Just for a moment, he looks at himself with two arms, and he thinks about it. He thinks about how that version of himself doesn't get aching pains in his arm, both real and phantom. How that version of himself doesn't have to think about how to do things with his arm, he can just  _do_ them. He thinks about it, and decides that it  _would_ be nice. 

But then he looks over, at Merle and Taako at the door, and he remembers  _why_ he'd grabbed the crystal in the first place. 

He's thought about this a lot, since it happened. How could he not? It was a pretty big deal. 

The way Merle sees it is like this. The crystal would have fallen and hit the floor if he hadn't caught it, and the crystals would have spread throughout the room. That's unquestionable. And Merle is  _pretty_ sure that the suits that they were wearing would have protected them. It's highly probable that every one of them could have gotten out of that room completely unscathed, even if the crystals were everywhere.

But the possibility still remains that they might not have.

The suits might  _not_ have kept them safe. It certainly hadn't done a lot in protecting Merle, after all. If Merle hadn't caught the crystal, then there's a chance that someone else might have taken the fall for it. 

And Merle just doesn't like that possibility. 

He thinks about what happened, and can't actually  _feel_ regret over it, despite what June says. Yes, he misses having that arm, but he doesn't regret catching that crystal. 

He'd even do it again, if he had to. 

Because they're a team. The three of them together, and if Merle has to give a little something up in order to keep the other two safe, then so be it. 

And watching them now, in the present again, so clearly conflicted about the decision that they have to make, Merle decides to hold onto that concept. 

He can see Magnus' obvious grief, and he can hear the slightly manic desperate edge to Taako's voice, and Merle can easily see that he's the one who got off easy this time. 

And back in the lab, it was Magnus and Taako who took care of Merle when he'd needed it. 

Now it's Merle's turn to take care of his boys when they need it.

That's what a team is, after all, and Merle is very grateful that he found his way onto this one. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is all i could think about while this happened the first time and then when we went over it again the second time and boy Howdy, there was really not a lot of hesitation at all when Merle decided to grab that crystal and i am dead.  
> [my tumblr](http://www.princex-n.tumblr.com)


End file.
